Congress Passes Sandy Relief

• After it was shelved earlier this week, Congress passed a $.79 billion recovery package for Hurricane Sandy. The first round of funds will cover the insurance claims. [NYT]

• Former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords attended a private meeting in Newtown, Connecticut earlier today. Giffords, who was shot while in office and has since retired, did not speak at a public event. [BuzzFeed]

• The race for Uptown City Council has just gotten a little bit more anti-Semitic and a little bit more reminiscent of the old New York days. [Politicker]

• David Axe at Wired looks at the arsenal of Iranian weapons, which closely resemble older American, Russian, and British weaponry with upgrades. [Wired]

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The Housed passed a part of the relief. The balance of the relief bill is so pork laden it is disgusting. The Senate used this horrible natural disaster as way to pile on all sorts of goodies for the pals. It was truly disgraceful.

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